Guilford, Vermont

Guilford, Vermont
Guilford is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford. The population was 2,120 at the 2020 census.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (0.20%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 2,121 people, 902 households, and 574 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,038 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.2% White, 0.5% African American, 0.0% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.1% of the population.
There were 902 households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were husbands and wives living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 5.4% had a male householder with no wife present. 36.4% of all households were non-families, and 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.85.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.2% 19 years old or younger, 3.9% from 20 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 37.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $57,674, and the median income for a family was $77,431. Full-time working males had a median income of $42,250 versus $31,725 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,612. About 2.9% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.2% of those under the age of 18 and 2.5% of those 65 and older.
Historical timeline
1732 – Chartered as Gallup's Canada, Massachusetts
1754 – Chartered as Guilford, New Hampshire
1758 – Chartered as Guilford, New York
1760 or 1761 – First settler arrives, either Lucy Terry (1760) or Michah Rice (1761)
1782 – First house and barn built in Guilford burn down
1791 – Chartered as Guilford, Vermont
1791-1820 – Guilford is most populous town in Vermont
1816 – First Episcopal church in Vermont built in Guilford, Christ Church
1817 – Broad Brook House built, now houses the Guilford Country Store
1820 – East Guilford Cotton Mill on Bee Barn Road burns down
1822 – First Guilford Town Hall built on Guilford Center Road in Guilford Center, now historical museum
1837 – Universalist church built in Guilford Center
1855 – Algiers (East Guilford) schoolhouse burns down
1884 – Broad Brook Grange Hall #151 built in Guilford Center
1885 – Green River Paper Mill burns down
1889 – East Guilford Grist Mill, first mill built in Guilford, burns down
1900 – Post offices close after establishment of RFD 3
1934 – Barn burns down on Yeaw Road, killing two young girls
1948 – Guilford Recreation Club organized
1949 – Broad Brook Fire Control organized
1949 – Broad Brook Fire Control becomes Guilford Volunteer Fire Department
1954 – First firehouse built in Algiers on Guilford Center Road
1957 – Guilford Central School built, all old schoolhouses closed
1970 – House burns down on Johnson Pasture Drive, killing four people
1972 – Guilford Town Hall built on School Road
2005 – New firehouse built on Guilford Center Road in Algiers
2007 – Town constable given police cruiser, a step toward a town Police Department
2007 – First full-time firefighter in Guilford
Notable people
Benjamin Carpenter, Lieutenant Governor, buried in West Guilford's Carpenter Cemetery
James Elliot, author and United States Representative from Vermont
Halbert S. Greenleaf, former US Congressman from New York
Christopher Hitchens, writer, was Olivia Wilde's babysitter for a time
Jonathan Hunt, former Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and early landowner in Guilford
Charles E. Phelps, US Army brigadier general; Medal of Honor recipient; US congressman for Maryland
John W. Phelps, brigadier general in the American Civil War and abolitionist
Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist
John Shepardson, one of the first white settlers of Guilford. Soldier in the American Revolution, justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
Lucy Terry, African-American poet
Royall Tyler, playwright
Olivia Wilde, actress.
References
Further reading
Wheatley, Phillis; Carretta, Vincent (ed.) Phylis Wheatley, Complete Writings New York: Penguin, 2001. p. 199
External links
Town of Guilford Website
Towns in Vermont
Towns in Windham County, Vermont
Populated places established in 1732
1732 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies